Numerical investigations and validation of hyperbolicheat conduction model applied to fast precooling of a slab food product

Abstract

One-dimensional hyperbolic heat-conduction equation with heat generation in fast precooling process of slab food product has been developed. The internal heat generation due to respiration is a nonlinear term in temperature and depends on the type of a given product. The equation obtained is then solved numerically using finite-difference techniques. A parametric study is conducted to illustrate the influence of the heat-flux relaxation time and the Biot number by comparison of the solution between the hyperbolic and the Fourier conduction models. The calculated results show that the hyperbolic model must be applied for higher values of relaxation time. Also, increasing the Biot number tends to quicken the cooling process and this will lower the value of the applicable relaxation time.